As treaties and trade agreements are implemented this year, more U.S. companies are looking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for fresh business opportunities. Fortunately, a whole host of logistics and transportation service providers are laying the groundwork to overcome inherent infrastructure challenges.

Today, U.S. trucking companies face more regulations than any time in history—and they claim this “regulatory tsunami” is putting the clamp on U.S. productivity. During this session shippers will gain a better understanding of the current state of trucking regulations (HOS & CSA) and the impact they're having on capacity and rates.

All Entries

Monday, May 16, 2011

The most recent edition of the Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates is calling for import cargo volume at major United States-based container ports to closely resemble last year, with a leveling off in May volumes.

With gas prices making everyone uncomfortable, again, those same old fears about energy prices are back in the forefront. But it does not have to be these way. In fact, it should not be this way—period. That is how T. Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital Management, sees it.

Friday, May 13, 2011

April retail sales, which include non-general merchandise like automobiles, gasoline, and restaurants, were $389.4 billion for a 0.5 percent increase from March and a 7.6 percent increase compared to April 2010, according to Commerce data. Commerce said that total retail sales from February through April were up 8.1 percent annually.

On the heels on a 2.7 percent gain in March, following a cumulative 2.8 percent decline in January and February, the April edition of the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI) was down 0.5 percent. The PCI has been down on a sequential basis in six of the last nine months, but it was up 3.5 percent compared to April 2010 and has been up annually for 17 consecutive months.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Aberdeen's Research Benchmarks provide an in-depth and comprehensive look into process, procedure, methodologies and technologies with best practice identification and actionable recommendations for the supply chain.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

While union dockworkers and truckers have long been criticized for making U.S. West Coast ports weaker, another faction of organized labor may pose an even greater threat to the competitiveness of one major ocean cargo gateway.